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It's time for New York to empower prosecutors to crack down on human trafficking

State Police Dismantle Sex Trafficking RingNew York State Police hold a press conference at Troop D headquarters in Oneida to announce the arrests of nine individuals involved in sex trafficking of a minor child in Oneida Co. Speaking are Major Rodney Campbell and BCI investigator Capt. Mark Lincoln at podium. Video by David Lassman

This editorial might hit home if you think of a daughter, a sister or a granddaughter and picture them in your mind for a moment before you read the next sentence.

As difficult as it is to believe, people -- let's be honest, men -- buy thousands of girls each year and sell them for sex or into slavery.

And it happens here, in Central New York, where we like to think of ourselves as a quiet, family-friendly environment. After all, we are a community that values its children. We argue passionately over the quality of our schools. We stand on the sidelines and watch hours of soccer games. We sit and listen to their band and chorus concerts.

In 2007, an Office of Child and Family Services study found 2,253 children are trafficked -- bought and sold -- annually in New York City, and an additional 399 children are trafficked in Upstate New York.

Last November, the day before Thanksgiving, nine people were accused of in a sex trafficking case in Utica, accused of coercing a 16-year-old runaway into a life of prostitution and drug abuse. Two have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing and the other cases are pending, awaiting the outcome of a broader federal investigation.

In the United States, the average age of a child entering into prostitution is 13.

Only three states experience more child buying and selling than New York - California, Texas and Florida. In New York it is currently only a misdemeanor to purchase sex with a child. The maximum jail sentence is about 90 days.

These children are no different than your sister, daughter or granddaughter. Their lives may have taken a turn, but they were, once, loved by someone.

Now they are forsaken. Thousands of them.

In March, the state Senate passed legislation that targets the buying and selling of children and gives prosecutors more tools to achieve justice. It's called the Trafficking Victims Protection and Justice Act. It's a bold step against human trafficking, by holding the men who buy children, sell children and have sex with children criminally responsible.

The act creates a new crime of aggravated prostitution of a minor, recognizing the act of prostituting a child in the same fashion as the law currently recognizes sexual assault or rape of a child.

The act also increases penalties on trafficking and soliciting sexual services, and classifies sex trafficking and compelling a prostitute as class B violent felonies.
In short, the act would give prosecutors the tools to make buyers and sellers of children more accountable to the law. It would make New York a leader in protecting children vulnerable to exploitation.

One would think this proposed law, which is included in Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Women's Equality Act, is a no-brainer.